Flushing valve



Feb. 26, 1935. I T, A LYONS 1,992,381

FLUSHING VALVE Filed July 16, 1954 INVENTOR Patented Feb. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to flushing valve structures for toilet tanks and the like, and more particularly to means for providing a variable volume flow of flushing water from the flushing tank. It will be understood, of course, that the invention may be employed in other cases where variable amounts of water are to be discharged from a tank or other source of supply.

Most flushing tanks have a capacity of several gallons of water which is all discharged upon each operation of the flushing valve. In those cases where only a small amount of flushing water is required, the complete discharge of the flushing tank, of course, results in unnecessary waste of water.

My invention has for one of its objects the provision of a simplified arrangement whereby a flushing tank can be completely discharged upon operation of the flushing valve, or the flushing valve operated to discharge any desired quantity of the water contained in the tank.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple form of valve-operating device which can be readily applied to existing installations of flushing tanks and valves, without substantial alterations.

Some forms which my invention may take are shown in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is an elevational view, partially in section, of a flushing tank and the valve apparatus associated therewith; Fig. 2 is a rear view, on an enlarged scale, of the valve-operating mechanism of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus'; Fig.4 is a view, similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modified form of apparatus, and Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof.

As is well-known, the operating handles of flushing tanks are movable to such an extent that the flushing valve is raised sufiiciently far from its seat to permit a rush of water of such volume that the valve is held from its seat until substantially all of the water in the tank has been 'discharged. If the flushing valve is raised only a slight distance from its seat, the flow of water between the valve and its seat will not be sufhcient to overcome the weight of the valve, so that if the ball valve is released, it will move to its seat and stop further flow of water.

The extent to which the flushing valve can be raised without causing it to be held from its seat by the flow of water depends upon the weight of the valve and its stem, the shape of the valve, the size thereof, etc. In some instances, I have found that if the valve is raised from its seat a distance of approximately of an inch, it will seat itself when released, even though the tank is still nearly full of water.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3, I show a portion of a. flushing tank 6 having a discharge or flushing outlet 7, an overflow pipe 8, a flushing valve 9, with its seat 10, and a valve stem 11 that is slidably supported in a guide bracket 12. A lifting rod 13 has slidable connection with the valve stem 11 and is raised by a lever 14. The parts thus far specifically referred to are'well-known in the art, and may be any of various well-known forms.

A bracket 15 is disposed against the inner wall of the tank 6, and has a hollow threaded shank extending outwardly through said wall and serving as a bearing bushing, with which shank a clamping nut 16 has threaded connection, to securely hold the bracket in place. A shaft 17 extends through and is rotatably supported in the bracket 15 and its extension, and carries at its outer end a handle 18 by means of which it may be oscillated.

The shaft 17 is squared at its inner end for non-rotatably supporting a crank arm 19. The arm 19 is connected through a pair of links 20 with a crank-like extension 21 of the lifting lever 14, the lever 14 being pivotally connected at 22 to the bracket 15. It will be seen that when the handle 18 is turned in either direction, the links 20 will be caused to exert a .pull upon the cranklike extension 21 of the lifting lever 14 to raise said lever and the flushing valve 9. If the handle 18 be swung to its limit of movement in either direction, the flushing valve 9 will ordinarily be raised to such an extent that suflicient water will flow beneath it to hold it from its seat until all or nearly all of the water has been discharged from the tank.

My invention resides primarily in so limiting the movement of the handle in one direction that the valve will not be raised so far from its seat as will prevent immediate movement thereof to its seat upon release of the handle 18. To this end, I provide an adjustable stop member in the form of a screw 24 that has threaded connection with an extension of the bracket 15, and is securely held in its set position by means of a jam nut 25. The setting of the stop screw 24 will, of course, depend upon the extent to which the valve 9 may be safely raised without causing complete emptying of the tank. As above-stated, thisdistance will depend upon factors such as the shape of the valve and its stem.

For the information and convenience of the op erator, I apply insignia 26 and 27 on the face of weight and -valve only a slight distance from its seat.

the tank, indicating which direction to turn the handle for complete or long flushing, and which direction to turn it for short or incomplete flushing. This insignia may be printed directly on the tank or be applied to a plate secured to the face of the tank. For a complete fiushingof the tank, the handle will be turned toward the designation long, to its full limit of movement, while for a partial flushing, it will be turned toward the designation short, its movement in that direction being limited by the stop 24. The operator will hold the handle in that position until a desired quantity of flushing water has run from the tank. Upon release of the handle, the valve 9 will return to its seat, and further flow of water be thereby stopped.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, I show a structure applied to another form of flushing apparatus. In this case, the lifting lever 28 corresponds in function to the lever 14 of Fig. 1, and is pivoted at 29 to the bracket 30 which is mounted in the tank in a manner similar to the bracket 15. The lever 28 has a slotted extension 31 which is engaged by a pin-like extension 32 of the handle 33, so that as the handle is turned, the lever 28 is tilted about its pivot.

The operating shaft to which the handle 33 is connected carries, in addition to the pin 32, a wing-like extension or shoulder 34 which when turned in one direction, will engage with a lug 35 on the bracket 30, to limit turning movement of the handle, the lug, however, being so positioned that a complete flushing operation will occur when the shoulder 34 engages such lug. Turning movement of the handle in the opposite direction will be so limited as to raise the flushing In order to provide this limitation to partial flushin I provide a plate 36 which has a vertical portion through which a squared portion of the shank of the bracket 30 extends, and which is securely clamped in place with the bracket, by means of a nut 37 that corresponds to the nut 16. The plate 36 has a shelf-like extension 38 which is slotted, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, for the reception of a stop screw 39.

The screw 39 extends through the slot and is clamped in place thereon by nuts 40. The stop screw 39 is so pcsitioned' that it will be engaged by the wing or shoulder 34 when the handle 33 is turned in one direction, thereby limiting the extent to which the lever 28 is tilted when the handle is turned in said direction.

handle having a shaft extending through the bushing, means on the inner end of the shaft for raising the lifting lever upon rotation of the shaft in either direction, and a stop device carried by the inner end of the bushing for so limiting movement of the shaft in one direction that the valve will be moved from its seat a shorter distance than when the shaft is rocked in the other direction.

2. The combination with a tank having a flushing valve and lifting lever therefor, of a bearing bushing extending through a wall of the tank, a handle having a shaft extending through the bushing, a crank-like extension on the inner end of the shaft having link connection with the lifting lever so arranged as to raise the lever upon rotative movement of the shaft in either direction, a bracket plate carried by the inner end of the bushing, and a stop device on said bracket plate positioned to be engaged by the said shaft extension, upon rotative movement of the shaft in one direction, and so positioned as to limit opening movement of the valve to such distance that when the handle is released, the valve will automatically move to its seat regardless of the depth of water in the tank.

3. The combination with a tank having a flushing valve and lifting lever therefor, of a bearing bushing extending through a wall of the tank, a handle having a shaft extending through the bushing, a cranklike extension on the inner end of the shaft having link connection with the lifting lever, so arranged as to raise the lever upon rotative movement of the shaft in either direction, a bracket plate carried by the inner end of the bushing and having a shelf-like extension disposed below the inner end of said shaft, and an adjustable stop device carried by the said shelflike extension and positioned to be engaged by the said shaft extension, upon rotative movement of the shaft in one direction, and so positioned as to limit opening movement of the valve to such distance that when the handle is released, the valve will automatically move to its seat regardless of the depth of water in the tank.

4. The combination with a tank having a flushing valve and a lifting lever therefor, of an oscillatory handle having a shaft-like extension projecting through one wall of the tank, an operating connection between the inner end of the shaft and the lifting lever so arranged as to raise the lever upon rotative movement of the shaft in either direction, a bracket positioned against the inner surface of the tank, adjacent to the inner end of said shaft, and having an extension, a clamping nut disposed exteriorly of the tank and having threaded engagement with said extension, and a stop device carried by said bracket and positioned to so limit movement of the shaft in one direction that the valve will be moved from its seat a shorter distance than when the shaft is rocked in the other direction.

THOMAS A. LYONS. 

